The New King of Hearts
by Roen Hitashi
Summary: Almost 70 years have past since Domon won the 13th Gundam Fight. Domon died without finding a successor to give the title King of Hearts to. Now it's up to Domon's aging son, Kyoji to find one. When a young man named Taro shows up on Kyoji's doorstep,


                                     **The New King of Hearts**

**                                    By: Deuce, God of Thunder**

            The year was F.C. 82.  Hundreds of reporters from all the colony nations were packed into the small banquet hall.  The black-haired man at the podium was wearing his signature red cloak and scarf.  This man was none other than the legendary King of Hearts, Domon Kasshu, now in his early forties.  Domon took a deep breath, and then began to address the reporters.

            "I've called you all here today to make an important announcement," the Neo Japanese Fighter began.  "This was a really hard decision to make for me, but, after much deliberation, I have come to the decision that, after a career spanning over 20 years, I, Domon Kasshu, will retire as a Gundam Fighter, in order to pass the torch on to a new generation.  Thank you and farewell."

            "And with those words, Domon Kasshu left the world of the Gundam Fight," said a man with a red suit and eye-patch.  Stalker continued.  "Although retired, Domon continued with his duties as a member of the Shuffle Alliance well into his eighties.  However, during that time Domon was unable to find a successor, so he passed the title of King of Hearts onto is son, Kyoji, in hopes that he would succeed where Domon had failed.

            "It is now the year F.C. 139, almost 20 years since being given the title, and Kyoji still hasn't found his father's successor.  However, a chance meeting with a young man with a natural talent for fighting may change all that.  Let's get things started!"  Stalker threw off his jacket, ripped off his eye-patch, and screamed into his microphone, "Gundam Fight all set?!  Ready…GO!"

                        A Chance Meeting. The Saga Begins.

            The young man sat at his computer, anxiously awaiting the results of his search.  Moments later, a message popped up saying that one match had been found.

            "Ah, here we go," the young man said.  He began to read the article aloud.  "Domon Kasshu.  A.K.A.: King of Hearts.  Born in F.C. 39, died in F.C, 136."  _That's only three years ago_, he thought.  "Mother: Kimino Kasshu.  Father: Dr. Raizo Kasshu.  Domon won the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Gundam Fights, breaking the records for both Most Consecutive Championship Wins and Total Championship Wins.  A broken leg and six fractured ribs one week before the 17th Gundam Fight prevented Domon from competing that year (which led to the championship victory of fellow Shuffle Alliance member Chibodee Crocket) but he returned four years later to compete in and win the 18th Gundam Fight, before retiring in F.C. 82.  The records he set still remain unbroken.  Domon started his career piloting the Shining Gundam, but switched to the God Gundam shortly after defeating the Devil Gundam for the first time in Guyana, and continued to use it for the rest of his career."

            _That's a long time for one Gundam, the young man thought before he continued reading.  "Early in F.C. 61, Domon married his crew member and long-time friend, Rain Mikamura.  Later that year, Rain gave birth to their first and only child, Kyoji, whom Domon named after his deceased older brother.  As a member of the Shuffle Alliance…"_

            Before the young man could finish reading, he was interrupted by his father's voice from downstairs.

            "Taro!" his father shouted up the steps.  "Get down here!  It's time for your training!"

            "I'll be right there Dad!" Taro yelled back before printing out the article he was reading.  _Only a few more months, Taro thought.  _Only a few more months and I won't have to listen to Dad or train under him anymore.  Only a few more months…__

            Taro's father, Diasuke Watanabe, was a master martial artist who had been trained in the Toho Fuhai School of Martial Arts under Kyoji Kasshu, the son of Domon Kasshu.  Daisuke had been training Taro in that style since he was a young boy and soon the teen would be a master of Toho technique.

            Diasuke met Taro at the bottom of the stairs and the two of them headed outside to train.  About halfway through the lesson, Taro decided to ask his father a question that he had been pondering for quite some time.

            "Dad?"

            "Yes, Taro?"

            "Dad," Taro began, "am I adopted?"

            "No, of course not," his father said after a little hesitation.

            "You're lying, aren't you?" Taro inquired.

            Diasuke stopped and sighed.  "I guess there's no use hiding the truth from you any longer.  After all, you are 17 and therefore deserve to know.  Your real name is Taro Kasshu.  Your father and I were best friends and we both trained under your grandfather, Kyoji.  After your parents died in a freak accident during the 29th Gundam Fight, I felt that the least I could do as your father's friend was to take you in and raise you as my own son."

            Taro thought for a moment before saying anything.

            "If Kyoji is my grandfather," Taro said after a moment, "then that makes Domon my great-grandfather!"

            "Yes.  Kyoji is still living on Earth.  If you want to, you can go and train under him," Diasuke said.  "He could teach you a lot more about Toho technique than I ever could."

            Taro's heart soared at hearing this.  "Really?!  I can go and train under Kyoji?!" Taro exclaimed.

            Diasuke nodded.

            "This is great!  When can I leave?" Taro asked eagerly.

            "As soon as you want."

            "Then I'll leave tomorrow."

            Taro started to run back inside to pack.  As soon as the teen reached the door, Diasuke spoke again.

            "If you want, ask your grandfather about what he has put away for you," Diasuke said.

            "I will," Taro responded.

            The next morning, Taro was on a shuttle headed for Earth.  A few hours later, the shuttle landed in Tokyo.  Taro reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper.  An address was written on it.

            "Your grandfather lives just outside Kyoto," Diasuke had told him.  "I think this is the address."  Diasuke had then written down the address and handed it to Taro.  "Good luck."

            "Kyoto…" Taro said as he stuffed the paper back into his pocket.

            Taro claimed his luggage and then caught a bus headed for the nearest train station.  There he purchased a ticket for the next train headed to Kyoto.  Taro waited for what seemed like hours.  Finally, the train arrived.

            "11:45 to Kyoto now arriving on track 16," the P.A. system announced.

            Taro made his way to the platform and boarded the train.  It wasn't a long trip, but Taro still fell asleep.  When the train reached Kyoto, Taro was still asleep.  The conductor had to wake him up.

            "Hey, kid.  You have to get off.  This is the end of the line."

            "Where am I?" Taro asked sleepily.

            "Kyoto Station."

            "Thank you."

            Taro grabbed his stuff and stepped out onto the platform.  His stomach growled.  Taro checked his watch.

            "Damn!  It's 1 o'clock already?!  I better get something to eat!"

            Taro found a small restaurant in town and ordered a bowl of ramen.  After he was finished, he headed outside and tried to flag down a cab.

            "Taxi!" Taro shouted.

            The cab continued to drive.  Taro tried again.  Another cab passed by without stopping.  Taro tried one more time.  This time a cab stopped.  Taro got in.

            "Where to?" the driver asked.

            "I'm going here," Taro responded, handing the driver the piece of paper with the address on it.  The driver took the paper and looked at it.

            "Hmmm…" the driver began.  "The old Kasshu estate, huh?  I don't know why you would want to go there.  The owner is a grouchy old bastard who won't let anyone near the place.  You might as well forget it."

            "So, you won't give me a ride?" Taro asked.

            "No.  I'll take you there," was the cab driver's response.  "But if the old fart throws you off the property, I ain't giving you a ride back into town."

            Ten minutes later, Taro was standing outside the Kasshu estate.  It was a decent sized place, about the size of a small upper-class property on the colony.  The house wasn't very huge or very ornate.  It was just a two story structure no bigger than a large middle-class house.  Taro knew from the research he had done that large, extravagant things never really suited his great-grandfather.  Domon had never really cared for wealth or luxury.  Taro walked up to the door, took a deep breath, and then rang the doorbell.

            "What do you want?" was the response from inside.

            "I'm looking for a man named Kyoji Kasshu," Taro said nervously.

            "Well, you found him.  Now go away," the voice retorted.

            Taro didn't leave.  Instead, he rang the bell again.

            "Um, Mr. Kasshu, you might not believe this but, well, I'm your grandson."

            The old man inside the house said nothing.  A few moments later, he opened the door.

            "Let me get a look at you," old Kyoji said.

            The old man looked Taro up and down before he spoke again.

            "You're Shigeru's boy, aren't you?" he asked.

            "Uh, all I know is that after my parents died during the 29th Gundam Fight I was taken in by a man named Diasuke Watanabe," Taro responded.

            "Watanabe…" Kyoji said.  "Why does that name sound familiar?"

            "Uh, grandpa, gee, it sounds a little weird calling you that, Diasuke Watanabe was a pupil of yours along with my father," Taro told the old man.

            "Ah, yes!  That's right!" Kyoji said.  "Sorry, I'm going a little senile now.  You said that after your parents were killed you were taken in by this Diasuke person, right?"

            "Yes," Taro answered.

            "Yep, you're Shigeru's boy," Kyoji told the strange teen standing on his doorstep.  "Come inside.  We have a lot to talk about."

            TO BE CONTINUED…

_Author's note: So, what did you think of this fic?  If you like it, I'll continue it.  If you don't I'll just decide on my own whether to continue it or not.  If I do continue it, you probably won't see the second chapter until after I finish my other G-Gundam fic, _Desert Storm! Attack on Iraq!_, and that probably won't be for a few months._


End file.
